page_title: New York Life Building
section_title: Use
hierarchical_section_title: New York Life Building / History / Use
caption_attribution_description: English: Looking southwest across Park Avenue at back side of en: New York Life Building on a sunny midday
context_page_description: The New York Life Building is the headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Company at 51 Madison Avenue in New York City. The tower is 40 stories tall, consisting of 34 office stories topped by a pyramidal, gilded six-story roof, and was constructed in 1927–1928. It overlooks Madison Square Park in the Rose Hill and NoMad neighborhoods of Manhattan.
  The New York Life Building was designed by Cass Gilbert with Gothic Revival details similar to his previous commissions, which included 90 West Street and Woolworth Building. At the time of the building's construction, many structures were being built in the Art Deco style, and so Gilbert's design incorporated Art Deco influences in its massing while retaining the older-style Gothic Revival detailing. The New York Life Building is distinguished from the skyline by its gilded roof.
  Upon completion, the New York Life Building was described as being run "like a small city". After World War II, New York Life became especially profitable, and built an annex to the north between 1960 and 1962. Additionally, New York Life completed a series of renovations to the original building during the late 20th century.
context_section_description: The New York Life Building was described as being run "like a small city": it had a security force of 25 security guards, which doubled as a fire brigade, as well as a cleaning team that cleaned the building's several miles of corridors. There was an employee clinic on the 14th floor, a system of 105 fire standpipes, a system of elevators carrying over 50,000 people a day, a mail system that handled 50,000 pieces of mail daily, and even an employee newspaper. New York Life initially only occupied about 65% of the space. The remaining floor area was rented out to other commercial and office tenants, such as wool firms, a drug store, and New York University. For several years, New York Life retained ownership of the Diana statue, finally shipping it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1932.
  After World War II, New York Life became especially profitable, being involved in several New York City housing developments. In 1959, New York Life acquired much of the block located immediately to the north, between 27th and 28th Streets, and submitted plans to the Department of Buildings for a 16-story building on the site, to be located at 63 Madison Avenue. Carson and Lundin designed the annex while Turner Construction was the contractor. Construction began in August 1960, and despite a major fire in early 1962, was completed later that year. Upon the annex's completion, it became known as the "North Building", while the older 51 Madison Avenue building was called the "South Building".
  New York Life also completed a series of renovations during the late 20th century. In 1956, part of the roof was repaired as an interim measure. The entire roof of the building's tower section was replaced in 1966–1967, and most of the stonework on the 35th-floor stone facade was removed. As part of the renovation, Carson, Lundin & Shaw replaced the gilded copper roof with gilded ceramic tiles, rearranged the structural steel holding up the roof, and extended the roof's slope downward. Several other projects involved adding air conditioning and fluorescent lighting to the interior, upgrading the elevators, and using alternating current rather than direct current for electricity. Some of the original interior decor was stripped in the process.
  In 1985, to celebrate New York Life's 140th anniversary, a 617-foot-high (188 m) artificial candle was lit at the top of the pyramid. Other upgrades during the 1980s and 1990s included mechanical equipment on the setback of the 14th floor; new roofs above the setbacks on the 26th, 34th, and 35th floors; and cooling equipment on the western setback of the 26th floor. For New York Life's 150th anniversary, in 1994–1995 the pyramid was restored with new tiles and lit at a cost of $4.1 million. The New York Life Insurance Company continued to maintain its headquarters in the building, but started leasing extra office space through Cushman and Wakefield in 2004.
caption: Seen at street level from Park Avenue South and 27th Street
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